


It's a lie!

by majorinconvenience



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: (Almost), Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Alternate Universe - Hope's Peak Academy (Dangan Ronpa), Developing Relationship, Fluff, Lies, M/M, Mild Hurt/Comfort, No Dialogue, Oma Kokichi Being Oma Kokichi, Saihara Shuichi Is a Good Boyfriend, Trust Issues, as always, comfort drabble basically
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-16
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-18 15:42:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29492262
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/majorinconvenience/pseuds/majorinconvenience
Summary: Kokichi knows for a fact that it’s going to be an absolute failure, that it won’t work out, that the tender, fondly gaze Shuichi is giving him now will eventually turn into an icy glare full of hatred and disappointment. So he responds with,“Of course! How can I reject my most favorite person in this whole academy? I’ve been crushing on you for a while, too!”There can only be one reason why he blurts that out so easily. Because it’s a lie.
Relationships: Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi
Comments: 14
Kudos: 149





	It's a lie!

When Kokichi says he likes lying, he lies. He doesn’t. He secretly thinks it’s kind of pathetic. Even though it often saves him from saying too much since he tends to blurt things out before thinking, he also imagines how differently everything would play out if he just. Didn’t lie all the time. Or something like that. 

But it’s his way of living, and he can’t just brush it off like a pile of dust, can’t tear it away from himself like a piece of old gum. It has become his defining feature, his last resort, his method of protecting himself from whatever he’s afraid of. He doesn’t need to explain himself if people refuse to understand him, he doesn’t have to open up about the dark depths of his mind if no one notices anything below the surface. It’s like hiding a gem in a treasure box, but the treasure box looks like a trashcan, so no one wants to dig into it. Kokichi wouldn’t say he’s fully comfortable like this, of course. He wishes he found a different way. But it’s alright. It’s not like he wants to be likable anyway. 

Because the gem is fake, too. It’s just a painted rock.

So, Kokichi lies. _Lies lies lies lies and lies._ To his classmates, to the teachers, to random strangers, to himself. He lies so much that he can’t picture himself opening up to anyone anymore. Sometimes his own stories confuse him, making his “real” memories dizzy and unclear. How could anyone want him to open up? What could he reveal about himself, even? What is hiding there, underneath a huge pile of masks and cobwebs of fake stories, that could strengthen his bond with anyone? How would he present a pathetic rock as a secret treasure if there’s truly nothing special about it? 

He used not to think about it that much before, but ever since he got accepted into Hope’s Peak Academy, it has been bugging him constantly. All because of a certain individual who entered his boring little world suddenly and unexpectedly, and now he’s always a pain in Ouma’s ass. Kokichi can’t stop thinking about this guy, and he’s all over the place. He wants to observe from afar, afraid of the consequences, but this guy keeps finding him again and again as if they’re simply playing hide-and-seek. They play like that for a while, and soon Kokichi realizes he doesn’t actually _mind_ being found. No one else seems to be willing to do so, anyway. However, the problem doesn’t go away.

When they spend time together, the boy looks confused, intrigued, irritated, drawn in, and it’s everything that Ouma feels as well, and it’s scary how alike they might be. It means that they could _understand_ each other if they wanted to. It means Kokichi isn’t as unreadable as he tries to be, that he can be decoded if this particular person puts just enough effort into it, that his petty treasure box can finally be opened after all these years. And it’s terrifying. It’s unusual. It’s foreign and unfamiliar. It makes him do weird, unexpected things sometimes.

That’s why, when Saihara Shuichi, the Ultimate Detective, says,

_“I know it might sound weird, but… I’m very drawn to you, Ouma-kun. I’ve been thinking about my feelings for you for a while, and I’ve realized that my sympathy towards you… is most likely romantic,”_

Kokichi feels like he’s about to run away like an Ultimate Sprinter, across the seas and mountain ranges, right into space, to the Moon, just to be alone and never talk to any human being again.

And when Shuichi continues,

_“You don’t have to say anything if you don’t want to, and I’ll understand if you don’t accept my feelings… But I like you, Ouma-kun. I want to know more about you and to understand you better. And– I don’t want to push you or anything, just, uh– it would be nice if we could try it out and become… a pair,”_

Kokichi knows for a fact that it’s going to be an absolute failure, that it won’t work out, that the tender, fondly gaze Shuichi is giving him now will eventually turn into an icy glare full of hatred and disappointment. 

So he responds with,

_“Of course! How can I reject my most favorite person in this whole academy? I’ve been crushing on you for a while, too!”_

There can only be one reason why he blurts that out so easily. Because it’s a _lie_.

A person like him can never have crushes. He’s too self-aware to believe in cheesy fantasies about love and relationships.

Right?

A relationship based on a lie means nothing but torture. It can never have a good ending, the one where both partners live “happily ever after”, get married, have kids, and die together, stuff like that. Still, Kokichi is tired of his pranks being unnoticed and sabotages having no effects on his classmates anymore, so he decides to go for a big, destructive fraud that will ruin Shuichi’s sanity and his own already low reputation.

Thus, they start dating.

Kokichi decides to show no remorse or pity towards this cute detective boy. That’s why, when Shuichi asks if they could hold hands, Kokichi never refuses. He grabs the detective’s cold hand firmly and reassuringly, snickering mischievously as the pretty pink blush brings lively color to the other’s pale face, tangling their fingers together and playing with them lightly. It’s obvious that, in actuality, he doesn’t want to hold hands with Shuichi. It feels like he’s holding a frog. His fingers are gross and freezing. And he smells like coffee, Ouma’s most hated drink on the planet.

When Shuichi asks him out on dates, Kokichi also agrees, even if he has other plans. They walk around the city, holding hands and talking non-stop, and Ouma feels like he can drop a truthful hint or two about himself, about his interests and opinions, so he does just that. It’s alright as long as their whole relationship is based on a lie. Saihara can know a few insignificant facts about his “partner”, as a treat.

Besides, it works wonderfully. Kokichi says he likes tea, and their next date happens in a lovely café with so many sorts of tea on its menu that they promise each other to go there every week to taste every single choice. Kokichi admits he likes comedies, and Shuichi takes him to the cinema to watch the stupidest movie one could ever make. They laugh through the entire thing until tears blur out their vision and their stomachs hurt. 

Once, Kokichi gets caught in his dorm room, drawing a random picture _(of Shuichi, for no reason whatsoever)_ , and soon Saihara gives him a pack of nice art supplies as a “casual gift”, or so he calls it. It’s nice having a servant like that.

Ouma also admits it would be too cruel, even for him, to leave his “boyfriend” with no affection. So he visits Shuichi every day, draws funny doodles in his notebooks when he’s not looking – not to lighten up his mood, just to mess with him, really. Then he picks up a habit of waking Shuichi up with a coffee cup that he grabs from the nearest coffeeshop first thing in the morning, just before classes. 

When Shuichi looks sad and gets emotionally numb, Kokichi pulls silly, harmless pranks on him and earns a relieved chuckle in return. When Shuichi won’t leave his bed, overworked and exhausted, Kokichi snuggles up to him with his favorite cookies and plays funny videos on his phone until a smile cracks the detective’s porcelain face. When he finds Shuichi crying after talking to his parents on the phone or after a difficult case, he hugs him tighter than he thinks he ever could, whispering supportive nothings in his ear and playing with his dark hair to calm him down.

One day, they’re studying together in the library, and they’re sitting very close to each other even though there’s no one else there, and Shuichi’s lips are centimeters away and still smell faintly of the new tea they tried, and their eyes meet, noses barely touching. Kokichi decides it’s time to cut the distance between them and reward his poor peasant with a kiss from the Ultimate Supreme Leader himself. 

They’re both clumsy and inexperienced, and it should be gross and awkward, and tasting someone else’s mouth shouldn’t feel pleasant in any way, but Kokichi enjoys every moment of it. The warmth of Shuichi’s lips, the short quiet breaths between their smooth, shy movements, the way his ugly cold fingers tangle in Ouma’s always messy hair or trace his cheek - it all drives him crazy, and he finds himself craving more. They stop, and they blush, they breathe, and they kiss again, and the homework they were doing doesn’t matter in the slightest anymore, and the whole library disappears. Kokichi wraps his arms around the detective’s neck with a wide, dreamy smile that appears on his face autonomously, and Saihara chuckles into his mouth so adorably that it takes his breath away.

They start kissing more frequently afterward.

Why would Kokichi do all of that, you may ask? It’s simple. A lie can be uncovered easily if not developed and secured. Trick the entire world, and the lie might become the truth for everyone but you. The luxury of being the one to lie is that you’ll never believe it yourself. So, Kokichi makes sure there’s no way for Shuichi to find out about his true intentions, that’s all. Let the boy be happy about an illusion, it’s such an evil thing to do!

Right?

There’s no other way Ouma would’ve agreed to start this relationship, right?

His beliefs stay firm for months. He tries not to think about it too much and just enjoys this prank to the fullest, spending more and more time with Shuichi to the point that there’s not a single day they don’t hang out. They have sleepovers, they cuddle in bed, they fight with their toothbrushes in the mornings and help each other with homework in the evenings. They argue like a married couple about the most trivial things and resolve these arguments with amazing dates, going to the amusement park, to the zoo, to the seashore. They dance in the schoolyard at night when they both can’t sleep, they become the most frequent visitors of that tea café, they win toys and snacks for each other in the arcade, they text each other every minute they’re apart, and never end a single day without a “goodnight” message or a kiss on the cheek. 

Saihara gets so comfortable around Kokichi that he starts rambling about his favorite novels and mystery shows, and Kokichi always listens to him with _(fake)_ fondness, watching his eyes glow excitingly and his hands gesticulate smoothly. Ouma himself gets so used to Shuichi’s touches and kisses that he can beg and tease him for them with absolutely no shame, not to mention that they both feel okay to hug or kiss in public these days. They go to festivals together and even visit Saihara’s house. His uncle seems to be very cautious and critical of Kokichi, but Shuichi just laughs about it, saying he’ll get used to it over time, repeating over and over how amazing his boyfriend is _(and Kokichi totally doesn’t replay those moments in his head once they return to the academy)_.

This is the most enjoyable and fun lie Ouma has ever made up. And he still doesn’t believe it, not in the slightest, despite the fact that he never thinks of the ways to finally reveal the bitter, cruel truth behind it anymore.

His strong beliefs stay the same until one day when he feels like absolute shit and spends his whole day in his room. He feels too tired to wear any masks, to pretend to be fine, to exaggerate his emotions – to do anything, basically. He just lies in bed and stares at the ceiling, feeling dangerously empty, cold, and alone in his strangely tight skin. He hasn’t felt this way in a while, and he’s scared that he’ll get caught like this. He wants to run away and hide somewhere, but his body is too tired, and his head won’t come up with any ideas.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t take long for Shuichi to find him, and of course, _as any naive good boyfriend would do,_ he rushes to pull the other boy into a tight, comforting embrace. This is the exact moment Ouma’s mind cracks, and those weird, gross feelings he’s been bottling up until now pour out through that single crack, causing an absolute mess. His treasure box opens on its own, and his fake gem falls down on the floor with a heavy thud worthy of a real one. It’s shining and glowing, even in this dim light. Was it really just a rock?...

Kokichi realizes that Shuichi’s chest is perfect to rest on. That his arms, being cold and disgusting as always, hug him so lovingly that it feels cozy and warm to nestle in them. That his quiet, calming voice is exactly what Kokichi needs to ease the destructive hurricane of thoughts in his never-resting head. That, despite everything, Kokichi doesn’t want to crawl out of their hug, that the desire to push him away squeezes his heart to the point that it gets too reluctant, and all words get stuck in his throat, not letting him spit his usual nonsense, not even _lie_.

Kokichi realizes he needs Shuichi. More than anything else.

And it is such a terrifying moment that he bursts into tears.

He was sure it wouldn’t work out. He knew it was meant to end awfully after a couple of weeks. He could’ve sworn Saihara would hate him, get tired of him, find him boring eventually. That his own feelings were nothing but convincing lies he was telling himself to keep this petty theatre going.

_So why did it work out?_

Shuichi hugs him tighter, his soft lips lightly pressing on the other boy’s ear. “Do you want to tell me what’s wrong?” he asks, and this question is the gentlest thing Kokichi has ever heard directed at him. 

“No,” is the only thing he can breathe out in response. The Ultimate Detective gives him a quick nod and a tender kiss on his forehead. 

“Is it okay if I stay with you until you feel better, then?” he asks again. “Or do you want me to leave?”

Of course, Kokichi wants him to leave. He has never wanted to ugly cry like a baby in front of anyone! Supreme Leaders of Evil never show their weaknesses to some peasants, especially the ones they’re manipulating.

But it’s a lie.

That’s why he utters,

_“Stay.”_

And he knows it’s not an illusion anymore.

Shuichi nuzzles into his hair. “Okay,” he whispers. “I’m always there for you, Kokichi.”

Kokichi cries harder, but his pain eases.

It’s hard being true to yourself, but it’s okay to do it with the help of someone you know you can _trust_. 

**Author's Note:**

> (someone promised to take a break and there they are again)
> 
> bIG BIG thanks to everyone in Saiouma pit for supporting me!! I've never been happier to share my works, even if they seem boring and not that great in general to me. I promise I'll do better!! <3


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